Training and Experience
The most significant influences on my work as an artist have been:
My father Jerry Hager (renowned mime, teacher, and theatre artist).
The grit, guts, and instinctual intelligence of exotic dance.
The relentless attention to detail and resilience creating and then performing six autobiographical solo shows with my husband Scott Slavin (our most celebrated works being, Naked In Alaska: The True Story of Stripping in The Last Frontier).
The life changing work with Bea, (Doris Wolz-Cohen) of Soulful Relating.
Other trainings and professional education include: Peter A. Levine’s Somatic Experiencing (SE) Professional Certificate Program (L,3), Open Floor International’s Teacher Training Program (Ground Floor Lab, Open Floor Phase I), 5Rhythms (with Lucia Horan), Tamalpa Institute’s Body Mapping Workshops, Laban/Bartenieff & Somatic Studies International, and Pacifica Graduate Institute’s “Exploring the Conscious Feminine: The Legacy of Marion Woodman’s BodySoul Work.” Additional influences include Authentic Movement, Dreamwork, Spontaneous Drawing, Touch Work, and The Alexander Technique.
I studied acting and worked as a performance artist for over twenty years. My training includes Stanislavski (Cinda Jackson), Method (Tony Greco), (The Actor’s Gang), Lucid Body (Fay Simpson), Committed Impulse (Josh Pais), and mime under Rick Wamer and my father, Jerry Hager. My performance interests have also led me to study within various improvisational schools.
I have studied solo show writing and performance under Emmy Award Winner, Matt Hoverman. Alongside my husband Scott Slavin (write, director) created six autobiographical solo shows, three of which were performed Off and Off-Off Broadway in New York. My production, Naked in Alaska, toured for five years across the US, UK, and Europe with over 75 performances. In addition to my own stage work, I have directed numerous one-woman shows in New York and Los Angeles and served as a movement coach for solo performers. I integrate my technical skills with a focus on specificity, character work, and projection, balanced by a deep commitment to presence and generosity.
I am certified as a Grief Group Facilitator with OUR HOUSE, and a Soulful Relating in Community Practitioner (an integrative approach to cultivating soulful relationships through somatic, contemplative practices). I hold multiple teaching artist certifications in movement and performing arts and have received numerous teaching grants and awards. My teaching experience includes The Kennedy Center’s American College Theater Festival, Queens Theatre (New York City), and Artworx LA.
My contemplative background includes studies in meditation and mindfulness at the Kadampa Meditation Center and The Shambhala Center in New York City, as well as Transcendental Meditation training in Los Angeles.
Originally self-taught in Tarot, I later deepened my understanding under Johanna Beyer, a former student of cultural anthropologist and Tarot scholar Angeles Arrien—an influence that continues to inform my creative and spiritual work.